A very good friend of mine on Twitter had this to say:

maybe if we all were told up front that we don’t actually own the tech we purchased, we’re just buying a license to use it, we’d be happier

And this brought up an old straw-man that I am fond to beat up every once in a while. It comes down to purchasing software or hardware from a company that hides this sneaky shit in their End User License Agreement. For much of it, you don’t even get a chance to read the EULA until you’ve opened the package and forfeited your rights to get your money back. Then you read the EULA and find out that you didn’t buy chattel, you bought a license. That you don’t own anything but the right to use whatever it is that you purchased. Anyone with a shred of common sense knows this entire affair is composed of nothing but the most rarefied load of bullshit ever perpetrated on mankind. The courts have upheld this obnoxiousness and so it’s legally binding.

So we have to swallow this pure bullshit. But what I think would be fair is to have these facts printed prominently on the box before you plunk down your hard-earned money to buy whatever it is. I’m sure it would only enhance the bottom line of the sales department if the big shiny box prominently had printed on it “By buying this box, you own a revocable license to use the contents, but you do not own the contents of this box. You cannot resell the contents or transfer it to anyone else legally.” Then whip that out on consumers and see how they react. I know I wouldn’t buy it. My work might buy it, but that’s not my money and not really my concern. Life goes on without buying something like that and these companies that insist (along with the courts that support them) that this legal bullshit is binding should starve and die when nobody buys their product. If these companies want to push products that you don’t own but only hold rights-to-a-license, then I say we should just stop buying those products outright. It used to be that if you tried that you couldn’t get anywhere or do anything, but nowadays that isn’t the case. There is a huge collection of software that exists that is licensed under the GPL. It’s all free for the taking, it costs nothing, it works arguably better than the alternatives and you don’t have to spend your hard-earned money and have nothing but a revocable license to show for it.

That’s how we progress. This “buying a license” bullshit has to stop. We can progress by starving these bullshit peddlers and encouraging and supporting the GPL. It’s enough to start a socialist revolution I say. Y’arrrrrg! 😉